Patriots players reflect on how NFL draft has changed

Pro football's draft and the time leading up to it weren't always the grand productions they've developed into over the years.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – The whole process could have made Rob Ninkovich sick.

“No. I didn’t have any of that,” the Patriots defensive end answered when asked if he, like Jonny Manziel, had a former president attend his pro day at Purdue in 2006. “I had a bunch of teams trying to make me throw up. But that’s what it is now.”

Some folks no doubt find the modern day process, which culminates with what amounts to a three-day, made-for-television drama that will unfold again Thursday night through Saturday, distasteful.

While Manziel’s audition was at the extreme – George W. Bush was among those on hand to watch the Texas A&M quarterback perform – it was an example of what NFL pro days have become.

“I don’t like to say ‘media circus,’ but pro days when I was coming out weren’t, like, start(ing) at 10 and ending at 4:30 just to work a guy out,” said Ninkovich, who wound up going to New Orleans in the fifth round of the draft. “Everything’s changing. It’s becoming more media oriented so everyone wants to see it and be a part of that whole process.

“It’s probably different for those guys because they probably have to be a little bit more, I guess, polished in front of the camera and be presentable as opposed to when I was coming out you really didn’t have the face time or anything like that,” said Ninkovich. “You were just involved with the teams. That was pretty much it.”

That’s pretty much the way it was for a more highly regarded guard coming out of Fresno State in 2005.

Which, with his second child on the way, created a hectic enough time as it was for Logan Mankins.

“It was a busy time of year,” said Mankins. “I think I had to visit a couple of teams and then I worked out for a couple of teams, and you’re still training.

“My second child was about to be born so it was a wild experience and then the whole draft day was pretty fun. We made a good party out of it and had some fun, and then (I) ended up getting drafted pretty high so that was great.”

As the Patriots’ first-round pick, 32nd overall, going to a team coming off its third Super Bowl championship in four years, there was reason for Mankins to swap football helmet for party hat when his name was called.

Coming out of Rutgers in 2010, safety Devin McCourty went even higher – at No. 27 to the Patriots – but he found the waiting to be the hardest part, the mind pondering a wide range of possibilities leading up to the draft..

“I won’t say it’s a frustrating time,” said McCourty, “but it’s a time where your mind just wanders and wonders about all the different possibilities.”

At least McCourty knew he’d be going somewhere.

Consider the plight of Matthew Slater, the Patriots’ three-time Pro Bowler on special teams, coming out of UCLA six years ago.

Where Slater would be going was the least of his concerns.

Slater wondered if he’d be going.

Finally, the telephone call came from Bill Belichick’s Patriots who made him the 153rd pick of the 2008 draft.

“I was in a position where I didn’t know what was going to happen, didn’t know where I was going to end up, didn’t know if I was going to get drafted,” said Slater. “But thinking back on it, it really was a joy to be able to see that childhood dream come to fruition and be able to live that out, and I’m still very thankful that this team took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity to live out my childhood dream.”

A first-round pick of the Patriots (25th overall) just two years ago, linebacker Dont’a Hightower has already been made to feel like an old man as his college teammates at Alabama seek him out for advice.

Saying “I feel like an old guy saying this,” Hightower said he’s told his former teammates with the Crimson Tide “just how the process goes, about traveling to see different teams.

“Maybe (I tell them) about what goes on there,” said Hightower, “about meeting with the GM, the head coach, all that stuff.”

As the 135th pick player selected and one who was waived four times by two teams (the Saints and Miami Dolphins) prior to finding an NFL home in New England in 2009, Ninkovich knows the process of meeting with general managers and head coaches well, his first occurring when he was coming out of college.

“It’s a stressful, weird time,” said Ninkovich, “because when you’re young and you’ve never been in the NFL you don’t know what to expect. Imagine being a 21-year-old kid and walking in here and having Bill talk to you. You guys (in the media) all know what that’s like, so it might be a little bit intimidating for him.

“But that’s part of maturing and getting in the league and getting your feet wet as far as getting the confidence of knowing you can play. That’s a big thing, too.

“Once you get here and realize that, ‘Hey, I can do that,’ then that brings your confidence to another level, but until then you’re still young and trying to figure out where you’re going to be,” said Ninkovich. “For me, it was just trying to get an opportunity to be in the NFL. That’s the main goal, is opportunity.”

Glen Farley may be reached at gfarley@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GFarley_ent.